During their first meeting of the new year held on January 4, the Washtenaw County Board of Road Commissioners elected Wesley E. Prater as its 2007 Chair of the Board. The other two members of the three-member Board are Fred J. Veigel, who was elected the 2007 Vice-Chair, and David E. Rutledge.
The Washtenaw County Road Commission is governed by a three-member Board of Road Commissioners, appointed by the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners. To provide overall continuity, each Board member is appointed to a six-year staggered term; that is, one Commissioner is appointed every two years.
Prater, who has served as the county's liaison to the Road Commission since 2003, was recently appointed by the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners to serve a 6-year term on the Road Commission Board. A graduate of the University of Michigan Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations and long-time resident of Washtenaw County, Wes Prater comes to the Road Commission with well over 35 years experience in public service. Some of Prater's other public service roles included Washtenaw County Commissioner, which he held since 2000 and on which he was Chair from 2004-2006, Ypsilanti Township Supervisor (from 1988 to 1996), and Fire Marshall for the City of Ann Arbor (1982 to 1988).
In addition, Prater has provided his service to such notable organizations and associations as the Ann Arbor Firefighter Association, Local 693; the Huron Valley Central Labor Body, AFL-CIO; the Michigan State Firefighters Union; the UAW Local 900 Wayne Assembly; the Washtenaw County Local Emergency Planning Committee; and the Michigan Society of Planning Officials. Prater has also served on the Board of Directors for several agencies, such as the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority, SEMCOG, the Michigan State Boundary Commission for Washtenaw County, and the Washtenaw County Development Council.
Continuing their current terms on the Road Commission Board are Veigel, who has served as a Road Commissioner since December of 1990, and Rutledge, who was appointed to the Board of County Road Commissioners for a six-year term in January 2005.
In addition to the election of 2007 officers, the Board of County Road Commissioners adopted their Annual Board Meeting Schedule. The Board will continue to meet on the FIRST and THIRD Tuesday of each month at 1:00 p.m., unless otherwise posted. Board meetings will be held in the Road Commission Boardroom, located at 555 N. Zeeb Road in Ann Arbor. Any modifications to the meeting schedule after this posting can be obtained from the meetings page..
A list of all meeting dates and time can be found on our Board Meeting page
If you wish to publicly address the Board of County Road Commissioners on a road related issue, you may do so by attending any of their regularly scheduled meetings. The Board can also be reached via email at: praterw@wcroads.org, rutledged@wcroads.org, and/or wcrc@wcroads.org.
The Board and staff of the Washtenaw County Road Commission are committed to providing the utmost in service to ensure a safe and convenient road system for all those who travel the roadways in Washtenaw County.